simplicity drives success

Category Archives: Fitness

People who have what we call “Mental Strength” share some common healthy habits of the mind. They tend to manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in ways that set them up for success in life. Here is a list of common things that mentally strong people do. With some amount of deliberate behavior, you can always improve your mental strength. It just takes effort and practice.

1. Take Responsibility
Mentally strong people take responsibility for their role in life and understand that life isn’t always easy or fair.

2. Retain Power over Self
Mentally strong people understand that they are in control over their own emotions and they have a choice in how they respond. They retain power for themselves by refusing to let others dictate their emotional state.

3. Accept Change as Normal
Mentally strong people welcome change and are willing to be flexible. They understand that change is inevitable and believe in their abilities to adapt and accept.

4. Recognize Control is an Illusion
You won’t hear a mentally strong person complaining over lost luggage or traffic jams. Instead, they focus on what they can control in their lives. They recognize that largely, the only thing we can control is our attitude.

5. Take Calculated RisksThey understand the difference between reckless or foolish risks, and take calculated risks. Mentally strong people spend time weighing the risks and benefits before making a big decision, and they are usually fully informed of the potential downsides before they take action.

6. Focus On The Here and Now
Mentally strong people spend almost no time dwelling on the past and wishing things could be different. Likewise, they spend very little time worrying about alternate futures. They use their ability to adapt and change to live in the here and now.

7. Have an Ability to Say No
Mentally strong people recognize that it is not possible to please everyone all the time. They say no or speak up when necessary. They strive to be kind and fair, but recognize that other people won’t always like everything they do.

8. Learn from Mistakes
Mentally strong people accept responsibility for their behavior and learn from their past mistakes. As a result, they rarely repeat previous mistakes. Instead, they move on and make better decisions each and every day.

9. Lack a Sense of Entitlement
Mentally strong people never assume that others would take care of them or that the world must give them something. They look for opportunities based on their own interests and skills.

10. Happiness Drives Success
Mentally strong people are generally Happy with where they are day to day. They tend to see Happiness as a prerequisite for achieving goals and not the other way around.

11. Welcome Alone TimeMentally strong people can tolerate being alone and are unafraid of silence. They can be alone with their thoughts and they can use downtime to be productive. They enjoy their own company and aren’t dependent on others for their personal happiness.

12. Take A Long ViewWhether they are working on improving their health or getting a new business off the ground, mentally strong people apply their skills and time to the best of their ability and accept that often real change takes time.

At the end of the day, when all is said and done, family puts each other ahead of all other concerns. It is a bond forged for some in biology in others it is forged simply through a close bond. There is nothing more disappointing to someone who would place family ahead of all else than to have a family member not reciprocate. When all is said and done, family are the people with whom you share the ups and downs of the most intimate aspects of life.

Birth, love, marriage, death. These are the things we cannot escape and they are the weigh points of our lives. In our lives we will all be called to confront the human condition in its various forms. Our experiences with vacillate from joy to sorrow, from exuberance to anger, and through it all there will be people by our sides whom we will consider family.

Cayden Long suffers from cerebral palsy. His brother Conner doesn’t let that stop him from playing sports as an equal. The two compete in triathlons together, with Conner towing Cayden behind in a raft during the swimming leg, towing him behind his bike during the cycling portion, and pushing him during the run. Triathlons have been a great way for the brothers to come together and have made them an inspiration to everyone that hears their story.

By the metrics of time and place they have not won a single race. By the metrics of family, they are world champions ten times over.